“If you’re sure you want to be part of the new Twitter, click ‘yes,'” Musk told his employees in Ireland. A former Twitter employee has won record severance pay for a dismissal that was deemed unfair.
“Either you’re willing to work overtime and work at high intensity, or you’ll be fired.” When he bought Twitter in November 2022, Elon Musk had multiplied attacks on former executives but had also put pressure on employees. So much so that half of the staff had been fired or asked to leave in just a few weeks.
But in the email sent on Tuesday, Musk explained that “to build a disruptive Twitter 2.0 […]we will have to be extremely tough. This will involve working long hours at high intensity. Only exceptional performance will result in a good evaluation,” he promised again.
“235 of the 270 employees had clicked ‘Yes'”
And the email ended with a request for a response. “If you are sure you want to be part of the new Twitter, click ‘yes’ on the link below. Anyone who has not done so by 5pm tomorrow (Thursday) will receive three months’ compensation.”
According to The Guardianin Dublin, at Twitter’s offices, 235 of the 270 employees had answered “Yes”.
Not Gary Rooney, purchasing manager at the Dublin office. He simply replied to a colleague by saying: “Twitter 2.0 will not be for you or me.”
Rooney was subsequently fired on a Saturday morning. He wrote on Twitter that “I never told Twitter that I was resigning, and I have not seen a separation agreement, much less accepted one.”
At the trial, Twitter’s management, now known as X, said it fired 35 people who did not answer “Yes” to Musk’s question.
“Mr. Musk cannot treat his employees this way”
The Irish courts ruled that 24 hours did not constitute “reasonable notice” and called it unfair dismissal. Twitter will therefore have to pay Gary Rooney €550,131 in compensation. A record fine in Ireland.
Rooney’s lawyer said the decision was fair. His client “did not quit his job” and was “unfairly terminated.” “It is not acceptable for Mr. Musk, or any major company, to treat its employees this way in this country. The record penalty reflects the seriousness of the case.”
